RACING SIMULATOR GLOSSARY

2DOF / 3DOF / 6DOF

Degrees of freedom — the separate ways a motion platform can move. There are six in total: surge, sway and heave (straight-line movements) and roll, pitch and yaw (rotations). A 2DOF racing platform moves the seat in pitch (braking dive, acceleration squat) and roll (cornering lean); 3DOF adds heave for kerbs and bumps; 6DOF covers all six. Platforms with fewer axes simulate surge and sway by turning them into quick pitch and roll movements.

Source: Wikipedia — Six degrees of freedom · Sigma Integrale — Motion Layers Explained

See also: Full-motion vs. static comparison

Apex

The point on the inside of a corner where the car’s path comes closest to the inside edge. A typical racing line enters from the outside, touches the apex and exits back to the outside; drivers describe an "early" or "late" apex depending on where that point falls.

Source: Wikipedia — Racing line

Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC)

A racing simulator from Kunos Simulazioni, released in 2019 and billed as the official GT World Challenge videogame. It centers on GT3 racing, with GT4 and other GT cars added through expansion packs, and uses laser-scanned circuits.

Source: Steam — Assetto Corsa Competizione · Kunos Simulazioni — Assetto Corsa — about the studio and its games

Direct Drive Wheelbase

A force-feedback steering wheel base in which the motor drives the steering shaft directly, without reduction gears or belts. Direct-drive bases are typically stronger and reproduce detail more accurately than geared or belted wheels. For scale: the Simucube 2 Sport is rated at 17 Nm, while Logitech lists its gear-driven G920/G29 at 2.3 Nm.

Source: Wikipedia — Direct-drive sim racing wheel · Simucube — Simucube 2 Sport direct drive wheelbase · Logitech G — G920/G29 Driving Force racing wheel

Drift Simulator

A racing simulator set up for drifting — a technique in which the driver deliberately oversteers, losing rear traction while keeping control through the whole corner. Drift setups usually use rear-wheel-drive cars and a wheel with plenty of steering lock for the counter-steering involved.

Source: Wikipedia — Drifting (motorsport)

F1 Simulator

A sim racing rig set up to drive Formula 1 cars — for example in EA SPORTS F1 25, an official product of the FIA Formula One World Championship. F1 simulators are a popular attraction around Grand Prix weekends.

Source: Electronic Arts — EA SPORTS F1 25

See also: F1 Miami activation

Force Feedback (FFB)

The torque a sim racing wheel applies back to the driver’s hands so they can sense what the car is doing — grip, weight transfer, kerbs and impacts. How much detail comes through depends largely on the wheelbase: direct-drive bases are stronger and more precise than geared or belted ones.

Source: Wikipedia — Direct-drive sim racing wheel

See also: Full-motion vs. static comparison

Full-Motion Simulator

A racing simulator on a powered platform that moves the cockpit in response to the virtual car. Strictly, some definitions reserve "full motion" for platforms that move in all six degrees of freedom; in event rentals the term usually covers 2DOF and 3DOF platforms too. SimsForHire’s full-motion rigs use SIGMA Integrale 2DOF/3DOF electric platforms and rent for $2,750/day, plus tax and insurance; every rig SimsForHire rents is full-motion.

Source: Wikipedia — Full motion racing simulator

See also: Full-motion vs. static comparison · Pricing

GT3 / GT4

Classes of grand-tourer race cars. GT3 is a set of FIA regulations, created by the SRO Motorsports Group in 2005, used by many national and international GT series; a balance-of-performance system adjusts power, weight and aero so no single make dominates. GT4 is the SRO’s entry-level GT class, with production-based cars closer to their road versions. Both classes appear in sims such as Assetto Corsa Competizione.

Source: Wikipedia — Group GT3 · Wikipedia — Group GT4

See also: All cars

Heusinkveld Pedals

Sim racing pedals designed and assembled in the Netherlands. Heusinkveld’s brake pedals use a load cell that measures force rather than travel, and the company says its pedals are used by teams and drivers in series including Formula 1, Formula E, IndyCar and WEC.

Source: Heusinkveld — About us · Heusinkveld — Pedal selection guide

iRacing

A subscription-based online racing simulator. iRacing says it builds its tracks with laser scanning, capturing details such as cracks, camber and undulations, and it advertises more than 350,000 members. Its regular membership price is $14.75 per month or $124.50 per year, with cars and tracks beyond the base content sold separately.

Source: iRacing — Track Technology · iRacing — Membership

Lap Time / Hot Lap

The time it takes to complete one full lap of a circuit. A "hot lap" is a flat-out lap driven for the best possible time. At events, lap times are often shown on a leaderboard so guests can compare.

Laser-Scanned Track

A virtual track built from laser scans of the real circuit, so bumps, camber, kerbs and elevation match the real place. iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione and Le Mans Ultimate all describe their circuits as laser-scanned.

Source: iRacing — Track Technology · Kunos Simulazioni — Assetto Corsa — about the studio and its games · Steam — Le Mans Ultimate

See also: All tracks

Le Mans Ultimate

A racing simulator from Studio 397, the official game of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It entered early access on February 20, 2024 and fully released on July 22, 2025, with Hypercar, LMP2, LMGT3 and GTE machinery on laser-scanned circuits.

Source: Steam — Le Mans Ultimate

Live Leaderboard

A scoreboard displayed at an event that ranks each driver’s best lap time as the day goes on. It turns individual turns at the wheel into a running competition between guests.

Load-Cell Brake Pedal

A brake pedal whose sensor is a load cell, which measures the force applied rather than how far the pedal moves. Inexpensive pedals usually use potentiometers or Hall-effect sensors that read position; load cells are found on more expensive pedals.

Source: Wikipedia — Simulator pedal · Heusinkveld — Pedal selection guide

Racing Line

The path a driver takes around a circuit. In most corners it uses the full width of the track to make the turn as wide as possible: enter from the outside, clip the apex on the inside, and exit back to the outside. Variations such as a late apex trade entry speed for a faster exit.

Source: Wikipedia — Racing line

Sigma Integrale Motion Platform

Electric motion systems designed and built in California. Sigma’s DK systems use servo-driven actuators with 2 inches of travel (DK2, DK2+) or 6 inches (DK6+), and its software turns game telemetry into pitch, roll, heave and vibration. SimsForHire’s full-motion rigs use SIGMA Integrale 2DOF/3DOF platforms.

Source: Sigma Integrale — Compare DK Systems · Sigma Integrale — Motion Layers Explained

See also: Full-motion vs. static comparison

Sim Racing

Racing a virtual car in software that tries to reproduce real driving physics, usually with a steering wheel and pedals. As physics engines and force-feedback hardware have improved, sims have become realistic enough that people who race in real competition also use them for practice; four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen is a well-known sim racer.

Source: Wikipedia — Sim racing

Sim Rig

A complete sim racing setup: cockpit frame, seat, steering wheel and wheelbase, pedals, screens or a VR headset, and the computer that runs the software. SimsForHire rents full-motion rigs only, at $2,750/day per rig, plus tax and insurance.

See also: Pricing

Simagic GT Neo Formula Wheel

A steering wheel in Simagic’s Neo series of sim racing wheels. Simagic listed it at a sale price of $239 on its own store in October 2026.

Source: Simagic — GT Neo

Simucube 2 Sport

A direct-drive wheelbase from Simucube rated at 17 Nm of torque, positioned below the 25 Nm Simucube 2 Pro. Simucube listed it at $999 on its US store in October 2026.

Source: Simucube — Simucube 2 Sport direct drive wheelbase

Static Rig

A non-motion racing simulator with a fixed cockpit. Everything the driver feels comes through the wheel, pedals and screens. SimsForHire does not rent static rigs; every rig we rent is full-motion.

See also: Full-motion vs. static comparison

Telemetry

The stream of data a racing sim outputs while you drive — speed, throttle, brake, steering, gear and the car’s movement. Drivers use it to analyze laps, and motion platforms use it to decide how to move the seat.

Source: Sigma Integrale — Motion Layers Explained

Trail Braking

Carrying the brakes past the turn-in point and releasing them gradually, rather than finishing all braking before turning. Depending on the corner, the driver fully releases the brake somewhere between turn-in and the apex.

Source: Wikipedia — Trail braking

Triple Monitor / Triple Screen Setup

Three side-by-side displays angled around the driver to widen the field of view, so the driver can see more of the track to the sides than a single screen allows. Kunos’s Assetto Corsa EVO, for example, supports both triple-screen setups and VR.

Source: Kunos Simulazioni — Assetto Corsa — about the studio and its games

VR Sim Racing

Sim racing with a virtual reality headset instead of screens. VR adds head tracking and depth perception, but headsets can cause sickness: a meta-analysis of head-mounted-display studies found a mean dropout rate of 15.6% due to VR sickness across 46 experiments, with gaming content scoring highest on sickness questionnaires. Onlookers also cannot see what the driver sees unless the view is mirrored to a screen.

Source: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Saredakis et al., 2020), via PubMed Central — Factors associated with virtual reality sickness in head-mounted displays: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Sources

1. Wikipedia — Six degrees of freedom
2. Wikipedia — Full motion racing simulator
3. Sigma Integrale — Motion Layers Explained
4. Sigma Integrale — Compare DK Systems
5. Wikipedia — Racing line
6. Wikipedia — Trail braking
7. Wikipedia — Drifting (motorsport)
8. Wikipedia — Direct-drive sim racing wheel
9. Wikipedia — Simulator pedal
10. Wikipedia — Sim racing
11. Wikipedia — Group GT3
12. Wikipedia — Group GT4
13. Steam — Assetto Corsa Competizione
14. Kunos Simulazioni — Assetto Corsa — about the studio and its games
15. Steam — Le Mans Ultimate
16. Electronic Arts — EA SPORTS F1 25
17. iRacing — Track Technology
18. iRacing — Membership
19. Simucube — Simucube 2 Sport direct drive wheelbase
20. Logitech G — G920/G29 Driving Force racing wheel
21. Heusinkveld — Pedal selection guide
22. Heusinkveld — About us
23. Simagic — GT Neo
24. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Saredakis et al., 2020), via PubMed Central — Factors associated with virtual reality sickness in head-mounted displays: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Each source was opened and checked on October 3, 2026. Product prices are the makers’ own and change often. SimsForHire prices and fleet details are our own.